Automobile testing and adjustment track



Aug. 4, 1925. y C. H.' FENNELL- AUTOMOBILE TESTING AND ADJUSTMENT TRACK Filed Aug; 11j. 1924 g n l11m/dion:

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ation Vand wearing ofthe parts asl may be necessary for their proper adjustments .or to Patented Aug.v 1925.

TATES PATENT carica.

UNITED, s

, *itABLEs-Hj TENNELL, or DETnoiT, MICHIGAN.

AUToMoBILr TESTING -Aim ADJUSTMENT TRACK.

nppiicatin 11i-.i August 11, 1924. vanni No. $1,375.

To all lwho/m .item-dy concern.'

Be it knownthat I, CHARLES H. FiiNNiiaLL,

' a citizen of the United v4States, residing at lowing-s a specification, reference being had 4for the operation of the different parts of an i automobile l,usuallyibrom'ght into usewhe'n it said parts may is traveling over aroadway, and to secure such operation of the'parts whilst the car is4 stationary in order that adjustments' of the be .made -from time to time f and o eration' thereof 4continued throughout vtime corresponding to desirable a period of I operation of the vehicle over a roadway for l whereby a stationary automobile may .oper- .Cate under'. its. own powerin a mannerin all a suiiicient` distance to bring about such actubring them to a desirable working condition.

y .A still further object is to provide means "-practical respects simulating travel `of the the four wheels ner simulating,- tlie travel of power said vehicle overa roadway;

and a still further object is to provide an apparatus driven bythe power plant of an automobile which will resv .lt in the simultaneous operation of thereof over a roadway, whereby the parts of the saiduaiitomobile may be subjected to the transmission therethrough or permitted to resist the force of such power'as in actual In effecting 4the adjustment or testing vof many of e operating parts of an automol' bile (such as adjustment of the wheel brakes During this running it Vmake all the desirable observations or to and the burning in of brake bands, particularly'where four wheel brakes are used, and

in the testingof such brakes throughout an\ initial period) it is usual to take the automobile out upon the road and drive it for a certain number of miles in order that the result of such driving and the performance during such driving.- may be ascertained. is not convenient to of the automobilein a mang effect-all of the adjustments. from-time to- {time which may be necessary. This road "Vtesting is also carried outfor the purpose of timing up the engine ofthe automobile, for the determining and locating of any noises which may become apparent in the engine,

axle, transmission or otherparts of the automobile, for the observation of the tramming of the wheels thereof, andascertaining other performance of the automobile; and in most of these cases records of faulty operation mustbe made during such running which records as a rule,"can onlyy be taken advanf "tage of after the car has-been returned tot the factory or shop where facilities are pro-.-4

vided to correct faults or make certain adjustments..

It is therefore an important object of this invention to provide simple and efficient a .stationary position under observation 'in' a venient manner'.

Furtherobjeucts subsidiary to or resulting means for the running of an antomobilevin -manner permitting the carrying out of the purposes of such road work in a very` con- 4 from the aforesaid objects, or from the construction or operation ofthe invention as it may be carried' into fleifect, will, become.

apparent asv the said invention is hereinj after further disclosed.

ses.

In carrying thensaid invention into effect I may arrange,preferably in asuitablepit. provided with a runway', an endless track-in the form of front and rear'rollers'geared together byan endless band and auxiliary rollers spaced from' said rear rollers and of `said track whereby said track isof greater length than the wheel base o f an autoeared thereto, thus forming, a continuation mobile which maybe supported on the said track. The rear wheels of the automobile rest between the said rear rollers and the auxiliary rollers whereby power may be transmitted from the engine'of saifautomobile throu h the rear wheels to said rear rom said rearrollersthrough bandl and said forward'rollers rollers, and said endless v to the front wheelsv of s aid automobile,

whereby the frontiwheelsthereof will oper- 'ate with the rear wheels'by virtue of the operation of the engine in the same mans ner as when such automobile travels over -a roadway.y i larly described and ascertained hereinafter -All of which is more particuby way of example having reference to the` accompanying drawing, wherein-'- i and approaches 3, the said pit being provided with pedestals 4 at the forward end thereof and further pedestals 5 at the rear end of the said pit. VThe pedestals 4 are provided With bearings 6 for a shaft 7 unon which are mounted rollers 8 and a pulley 9 intermediate thereof, the rollers 8 being spaced to agree with the spacing ofthe wheels of an automobile with which the device is to be used.

The pedestals 5 are each also*V similarly provided with a pair of bearings 10 and 11 having shafts 12 a'nd 13 jouriialed therein respectively which shafts have mounted thereon rollers 14 and 15 spaced similarly to the rollers 8 of the shaft 7,' and 16 is a pulley mounted on the shaft-12 intermediate of the rollers 14 and geared to the pulley 9 by means of an endless band 17 whereby motion of the rollers 14 may be transmitted to the rollers 8.

Also mounted on the shaft 12 is a gear wheel 18 geared to a similar wheel 19 on the shaft 13 by means of a chain 2O,` which ensures the rotation of the rollers 14 and 15 in the same direction and the transmission of power therebetween. c Y

This arrangement of rollers and gearing forms an endless track for a motor vehicle as will be readily apparent from the illustration, Figure 2 of the drawing, which shows an autoniebile 21 having its front Wheels 22 resting on the rollers 8 and its rear wheels 23 resting between the rollers 14 and 15; and it will be readily understood that with' an automobile in such position, and upon the operation of the engine thereof to drive the rear wheels. power will be transmitted from such rear wheels through the endless band described to the front wheels of the automobile and eect their rotation in the same manner as the said rear wheels.

Thusall of the partsvof the automobile which would be'actuated by the power of the engine in the travel of the automobile over a roadway will be similarly actuated when the said automobile is mounted upon the device, consequently the effect of the application of brakes either upon the rear wheels or the front wheels, or both, may be performed and the result noted; or the application of the brakes may be performed rfor the purpose of bringingv about results such as the burning in of the said brake bands or the subjecting of the same'to such wear or strain as maybe necessary to properly determine their function and eect their adwheels, the transmission and so forth; and

the speedometer, the 'bearingsv of the front y the running of the parts for the purpose of tuning the engine, transmission, or other mechanism may be readily effected, either freely or against any resistance which it may be desirable to' offer to such running such as by the application of the brakes to any or all of the wheels of the automobile.

24 and 25 indicate ropes or te'rods'which' maybe used for the purpose of securing the automobile in position and said ropes or` rods being attached to, the automobile in any convenient manner. f.

The advantages Aof suchv a device will be readily apparent from the foregoing dewitli the necessity of, running the car on a roadway for theA purpose as hereinbefore ex'- plained thereby saving considerable time and pscription and its use practically does away expense; and it will be obvious that the use of said device also permits of an automobile being run in a stationary position for purposes of demonstration so that the prospective purchaser may himself drive the ear practically under road conditions in order to .satisfy himself of its performance without necessitating the removal of the automobile from the place of demonstration.

I -attach considerable importance to the factthat the device is applicable for the running in of a. motor vehicle as described, the application of the same forA testing or recording `purposes being secondary tov such r object.

This invention may be developed within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the essential features of the invention, and it is desired that the specification and drawing be read as being merely 4 illustrative and not 1n a limiting sense, eX-v cept as necessitated by the prior art.

What I claim is 1. In a device of the class described, means adapted to transmit motion from the rear to the front wheels of a stationary operating automobile, said means being in the form of front and rear rollers geared together'by an endless band, said rollers frictionally abutting the front and rear wheels respectively, of said automobile, fixed runways between said front and rear rollers. said runways being independent of said band, and

. further means positioning said automobile 'l in operable relation to said rollers.

2. ln a device of the class described, means adapted to transmit motion from the rear to the front wheels of a stationary operating automobile, said ineans being in the form of frontV and rear rollers geared together 1,548,193, l l a' by an endless band, said rollers friotionally tween, further rollers upon which the front abutting/Ehe front. and rear wheels respeta-1y wheels of suoli automobile rest and are potilely /o said automobile, Aand auxiliary sitioned by said pairs f rollers, and means f-'froll'ers between which and said rear rollers transmitting motion to .the .latter rollers 16 5 the rear lWheels of said automobile rest, said. from said` first mentioned rollers. auxiliary rollers bei-Iig geared to said rear In' testimony whereof I affix my signature rollersfor rotation therewith in the saine in presence of two Witnesses..

direction. CHARLES H. FENN ELL.

3.- In a. device of the class described, pairs Witnesses 10 of rollersl adapted to receive and support G. E. MCGRANN,

the rear Wheels of an' automobile; therebe- EMMA Hv DEQLERCQ. 

